Apple CEO Tim Cook tiptoed around AT&T’s planned acquisition of Time Warner in his quarterly earnings call with analysts. But he left little doubt that he’s interested in what’s happening — saying television is “of intense interest to me and other people here.”
The company has “started focusing on some original content,” Cook says. “It’s a great opportunity for us both from a creation point of view and an ownership point of view. So it’s an area we’re focused on.”
And he’d gladly enter the deal market under the right circumstances.
“We’re open to acquisitions of any size that are of strategic value where we can deliver better products o our customers and innovate more,” he says. “We’re definitely open and definitely look.”
The comments could be important: Apple’s known to have been interested in Time Warner — and is often seen as a potential candidate to buy Netflix, if the company wants to sell.
The tech power can afford to do just about anything it wants. It had $20.5 billion in cash, and $46.7 billion in short term marketable securities at the end of September.